Meditation Jutsu
by Serendipithy
Summary: Ino doesn't understand why Sakura and Itachi appear flushed and bothered after their weekly Meditation Jutsu sessions. They're not doing anything sketchy, so what are they hiding? ItaSaku. Non-Massacre AU.


**Title: **Meditation Jutsu

**Summary:** Ino doesn't understand why Sakura and Itachi appear flushed and bothered after their weekly Meditation Jutsu sessions. They're not doing anything sketchy, so what are they hiding? ItaSaku. Non-Massacre AU.

**A/N: **Fuck it all, I completely forgot I actually attempted to make AHTGR _canon_. Meaning the massacre actually happened. That ruins part of my plans for this story… the setting for this fic now has to be Non-massacre AU standalone and NOT a sequel to AHTGR. Sigh.

_NOTE TO EVERYONE READING THOUGH_: Much of Sakura's/Itachi's personalities come from AHTGR, but it can't be from the same universe because of the massacre element (and because honestly, I can't imagine this happening if the massacre actually occurred.)

**Disclaimer: **Yeah, uhh, no.

* * *

When there is a secret to be discovered and gossip to be spread, rest assured that the one and only Yamanaka Ino will not stop until she gets to the bottom of it.

She will catch wind of any rumor, eavesdrop on any seemingly innocent conversation, and share such information with the rest of the village.

Some—_victim to the intrusion of privacy!_ they exclaim—hate her for it. Others (such as Kiba, Ino's male gossip counterpart) join her on their collective mission to stay up to date in the grapevine.

But most are simply bystanders to a harmless girl and her vast information network—harmless, as long as they're not the next victim of her giant mouth and nosy behavior.

It was unfortunate for Sakura that she happened to be best friends with the loudmouthed girl, but it was inevitable that her secret (or not-so-secret anymore) involving her new relationship with Itachi had been dug out of the shadows. Three months after that fateful _yes_, and everyone was still surprised at how Sakura managed to snag a certain Uchiha heir.

That wasn't what Ino was frustrated about, however.

Ino was ecstatic after finding out that _her best friend had a boyfriend_, and to top it all off, he just so happened to be one of the most eligible, attractive, and intelligent bachelors in Konoha. Weeks had gone by and she hadn't been able to stop mentally (and sometimes vocally) squealing to herself about how lucky Sakura was and just how happy she was for her friend.

So, why then, was Ino currently sitting on a park bench, head tilted back towards the sky muttering expletives to herself?

Surely, with such a big discovery and one of the juiciest pieces of gossip of all times, she was satisfied.

But no, Ino had not been a very happy camper the last few weeks.

The reason was simple: someone was _hiding _something from her. Or, she corrected herself, some _people_. And to top it all off, it had to be the same couple she recently discovered were going out.

Yes, Sakura and Itachi were hiding something from the rest of the world.

And Ino was going to find out _what_.

* * *

It all started about a month ago when she was invited to join Sakura and Itachi at their first weekly group Meditation Jutsu session.

Meditation in itself was an old practice—itachi used it all the time to ponder over facts and missions during his countless years as a shinobi. It was nothing new to seasoned shinobi, especially those in the upper ranks who did not have much time to themselves. Even Ino had tried —_tried_ being the key word—meditation before and failed miserably. Meditation Jutsu, on the other hand, required the actual use of chakra. There were many forms, according to Sakura, but Ino had zoned out when her friend explained enthusiastically what it was all about. The important part was, she and Itachi wanted to try it as another way to vent out their emotions, citing that sometimes rambling wasn't enough.

Ino certainly didn't understand that—how could rambling _not_ be enough?! She rambled all the time, albeit in person, and she never felt anything was being pent up. If she had something to say, she just said it!

When she pointed this out to her friend, Sakura just laughed it off, saying something along the lines of _oh Ino, only you would say that!_

What the fuck was that supposed to mean?!

Then her friend said to try and imagine _Itachi_ doing the same thing she did on a regular basis—that is, and she quoted Sakura's words here, "be a loudmouth."

_That_ was a good point.

Originally, she refused the invitation. After all, it wasn't useful for her—she saw it as a complete waste of her gossip and shopping time (which she never seemed to have enough of anyway.) So instead of going, she decided to eavesdrop on their little "sessions." (Because actually, Sakura surely didn't expect her to believe they were _"_meditating" the entire time, right? But alas, it seemed they were.) She watched the happy couple walk into the Uchiha Manor with other guests participating in the same activity… meaning no chance for sex (don't tell me you read "meditating" and didn't think that!) Thus, the first session ended normally, though she spotted the couple holding hands as they left, Sakura with a happy, flushed look on her face and Itachi appearing as stoic as ever.

By the third session, however, even the Uchiha had light pink dusting his cheeks, his eyes shining brighter than Ino had ever seen.

What. The. Fuck?

Uchiha males _do not_ blush, and although the Uchiha technically did not blush, per se, it was still noticeable enough for people to turn their heads and stare.

How could you not?! This was Uchiha _Itachi_, heir to the Uchiha Clan, noted for masking his emotions to the extent that even Sasuke paled in comparison (and that was saying something.)

He looked _happy_. _Glowing_, even.

_LIKE HE JUST FOUND OUT HE WAS PREGNANT_, Ino snickered to herself, only to stop abruptly when Itachi gave her a piercing look, as if reading her mind.

_Goddamn Uchihas and their scary-ass eyes._

Now, normally even that would have only sparked a slight curiosity—enough to light a cigarette perhaps, on a figurative scale. But it was the situation and the conditions for which Itachi looked like a pregnant mommy-to-be that commanded a roaring flame of attention, as the two were the only ones who looked entirely too _satisfied_ and _satiated_ for themselves.

Other members of the group, including Hinata, had more of a droopy eyes look—to put it simply, Ino's guess was the first thing the other members did once they got home was sleep. Meditation Jutsu might be relaxing in some ways, but it still consumed chakra (in ways Ino still wasn't clear on… maybe she should have paid more attention to her friend's lecture.) Enough chakra consumption led to drowsiness when one wasn't running on adrenaline, hence the need to sleep. These were _basic_ points on chakra, something she had learned back in her Academy days!

The huge anomaly here was that Sakura _wasn't_ low on chakra, and if she probed hard enough, she could detect Itachi's chakra levels to be lower than usual. It explained _why_ they weren't tired, but not _how_. Sakura was completely obsessed with Meditation Jutsu after her first session, and wouldn't stop talking about it to anyone who listened. Surely with that much enthusiasm she would have used more chakra.

But no, leading back to square one: _how_?

After the fifth session, Ino couldn't contain her curiosity any longer. Both of them were glowing to the extent that one would believe Meditation Jutsu was just a cover-up for sex and ice cream and romantic comedies and babies hidden in the Uchiha Manor, but _no_, not when the matriarch of the Uchiha Clan volunteered her home for this purpose. And given that these weekly meetings were held in the Uchiha Manor, entrance was strictly enforced to ensure unauthorized visitors had no access… meaning _she_ was being left out.

And Ino _hated_ being left out.

Given that these meetings were held Saturday afternoon, Ino marched up to Sakura during her hospital shift on Thursday at lunch to confront her friend about "joining" them for their next meeting.

"Sure, why not! Why didn't you just join us at the beginning? I'm sure Mikoto-san would be more than happy to add you to the list!"

By Friday morning, Sakura had already informed Mikoto of their newest member, to both the matriarch's and Ino's delight—though obviously for two entirely different reasons.

For Ino, it was time to do what she did best: meddling.

* * *

Review? No but actually, I want to see what you guys think Sakura/Itachi are actually doing at these sessions. I can't tell if it's obvious or not… Let's hope it's not too expected. ;)

Originally I was going to make this a twoshot, but as I was editing this a ton of mini plot bunnies popped up. So…. This might be longer than simply two chapters (but no more than four) depending on the interest/feedback I get.


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